Idenhill Farmhouse

Details

SY 19 NE
3/62

FARWAY
Idenhill Farmhouse

II

Farmhouse. Early-mid C16 with major later C16 and C17 improvements, rescued from
dereliction and thoroughly renovated circa 1980. Plastered stone rubble with some
cob; stone rubble stacks topped with C20 brick; thatch roof.
Plan and development: L-plan house. The main block faces into a courtyard to the
west. Originally this had a 3-room-and-through-passage plan. At the left (north)
end is a service end kitchen with gable-end stack. Right of the passage is the
former hall with an axial stack backing onto the passage. The former inner room, at
the right (south) end, is terraced into the hillslope. In fact by 1980 this hall
and inner room section had collapsed and it was rebuilt as a single room. A 2-room
plan service block projects at right angles in front of the left end (the kitchen).
The outer room here has a rear lateral stack.
Since the hall and inner room section has been rebuilt it is not possible to
determine the early development of the house in detail. No doubt it began as some
form of open hall house, probably heated by an open hearth fire. The owner thought
that the surviving roof structure over the kitchen was smoke-blackened but it has
since been scrubbed and stained. The hall stack was probably inserted in the mid
or late C16. The service end was refurbished as a kitchen in the early or mid C17.
The first room of the service block was added about the same time. It was probably
a dairy or pantry. The second room here was probably added in the C19. The 2 rooms
of the service wing were united circa 1980. House is 2 storeys.
Exterior: irregular 2-window of circa 1980 casements containing rectangular panes
of leaded glass. The passage front doorway is a circa 1980 Tudor arch containing a
contemporary door. The windows and doorways around the rest of the house are
similar to those on the front except for a C17 tiny oak-framed window to the former
kitchen smoking chamber. It is still sooted. The main block roof is gable-ended to
right and half-hipped to left. The service block roof is gable-ended.
Interior: the hall fireplace is Beerstone ashlar with a chamfered oak lintel. The
face has been hacked back a little which is a pity since the small parts which have
not been affected have the remains of C17 paintwork on them. All other C16 or C17
features have gone from the hall and inner room section. Along the lower side of
the passage there is an oak plank-and-muntin screen. The service end kitchen has a
large Beerstone ashlar fireplace with a chamfered oak lintel. There is an oven to
rear and the remains of a walk-in curing chamber alongside to right. The crossbeam
here is chamfered with scroll stops. In the chamber above there are the remains of
a C17 ornamental plaster plaque; a St Andrews cross with different motifs at the
end of each arm. The roof here is carried on a side-pegged jointed cruck truss.
There is a late C16-early C17 oak Tudor arch from the kitchen to the service wing
where the first room has a chamfered and scroll-stopped crossbeam.

Listing NGR: SY1770195085

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

88733

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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